Zirconium phosphate and zirconium oxide are used in sorbent dialysis to remove waste and unwanted solutes from spent dialysate. Generally, zirconium phosphate removes ammonium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium ions from dialysate while the zirconium oxide removes anions such as phosphate or fluoride ions. Both materials are usually packaged together in a cartridge of some type or packed in separate cartridges. Usually, sorbent cartridges are discarded and replaced after use. The discarded sorbent cartridges are broken down and the individual materials separated from each other. Because zirconium phosphate and zirconium oxide are expensive and rechargeable, sorbent re-processers treat the recovered zirconium phosphate and zirconium oxide with a series of chemical solutions. The recycling process requires transporting the materials to reprocessing facilities and involves laborious recycling steps in addition to recharging the sorbent materials. Further, the sorbent material cannot be immediately reused, and must be added to a new sorbent cartridge and repackaged for sale. Safe disposal of the chemical waste from solutions used to recharge the materials may also require additional steps such as neutralizing the recharging solutions. Conventional methods drive up costs and infrastructure requirements, and increase complexity and waste.
Hence, there is a need for systems and methods that can quickly and effectively recharge sorbent materials without the need to remove the spent sorbent materials from the sorbent cartridge or sorbent modules. There is further a need for systems and methods that can quickly and effectively recharge different sorbent materials in a single recharging system. There is also a need for a system that can take advantage of the unique solutions necessary to recharge both zirconium oxide and zirconium phosphate to allow for automatic neutralization of the recharging solutions allowing safe disposal without additional treatment. There is further a need for systems and methods that can provide inline mixing of chemicals, reducing the volumes of chemicals needed.